"Those among the rich who are not, in the rigorous sense, damned, can understand poverty, because they are poor themselves, after a fashion— they cannot understand destitution. Capable of giving alms, perhaps, but incapable of stripping themselves bare, they will be moved, to the sound of beautiful music, at Jesus’s sufferings, but His Cross, the reality of His Cross, will horrify them." Léon Bloy

19 April 2017

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - All Is Well

"On Wednesday, he [Stanley Fischer] said that spillovers from [rate] tightening 'will be manageable.'

It's possible that U.S. and foreign economic growth can align, Fischer said. He added that downside risks from overseas are noticeably smaller and that foreign growth appears more entrenched.

Fischer said that China's economy also seems to be on more solid footing."

Stanley, you are not all that reassuring.

This seems to be just another self-serving exercise from the Fed which wishes to get off the zero bound so that they can cut rates later on when their latest financial paper asset bubble starts deflating.

Stocks were wobbly into the close after giving up most of their gains after yesterday's loss.

I am not recommending going short, by the way. These guys have more paper than you have patience.

Geopolitical jitters affecting the markets include the freedom wars in the Mideast and the Kid in North Korea.

And of course the rising populism in Europe, particularly with an eye to this weekend's French election which seems to be following the divergence from the status quo to both the left and right.

Metals were off on 'renewed US dollar strength' according to the financial spokesmodels, although if you look at the DX chart the 'strength' is greatly overstated. Well, that's what they do.

Le Propriétaire

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Need Little - Want Less - Love More

The Banks must be restrained, and the financial system reformed, with balance restored to the economy, before there can be any sustainable recovery.

"In the Incarnation the whole human race recovers the dignity of the image of God. Thereafter, any attack even on the least of men is an attack on Christ, who took on the form of man, and in his own Person restored the image of God in all. Through our relationship with the Incarnation, we recover our true humanity, and at the same time are delivered from that perverse individualism which is the consequence of sin, and recover our solidarity with all mankind." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"A credibility trap is when the managerial functions of a society have been sufficiently compromised by corruption so that the leadership cannot reform, or even honestly address, the problems of that system without implicating a broad swath of the powerful, including themselves.

The moneyed interests and their aspirants tolerate the corruption because they have profited from it, and would like to continue to do so. Discipline is maintained by various forms of soft financial rewards and career and social coercion."

These are personal observations about the economy and the markets. In providing information, I hope this allows you to make your own decisions in an informed manner, even if it is from learning by my mistakes, which are many. As a standing policy I never provide individual investment advice to anyone. I will only occasionally disclose my personal positions for purposes of illustration. Understand that my own circumstances could differ greatly from your own, and therefore what is suitable for me may not be suitable for you. My comments are intended to be reflection on general macro financial and economic events and trends.